In Exchange
by pk68
Summary: Seto had always envisioned himself to be the evil dragon in fairy tales, or at least he’d be the King. Now 23, his White Knight comes along, and Seto found so many things he never knew he needed to be rescued from. Currently, it's SetoxRyou
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: For the second time today, Yugioh isn't mine

Author's Note: I like Yaoi, and I like SetoxRyou. So this will be yaoi & SetoxRyou I don't know why I'm starting a new story, 'cause I have a bunch of other stuff to do but I Can't Help It! It's so nice to think of those two together.

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"I'm going to die." He knew clearly. "After all these years I survived, I'm going to die here, in the back end of an alley. I'm supposed to be on a vacation right now, so Mokuba won't worry about me until at least a week after. The police will find my body, rotten and half torn by rats."

He should have been on vacation right now, Mokuba made him go. But worried about the company, he snuck back into Domino, only to meet several assassins. Now they're dead, he'll join them soon.

Kaiba stared at the sky, feeling his strength sapped out of him as the rain washed away his blood. "I'm sorry little brother, now you'll have to suffer the life I tried so hard to protect you from, my life."

Too tired even to think, the CEO of one of the largest corporations in the world lays motionless in a corner of Domino City: paralyzed, waiting for his demise, hoping to make a deal with the devil so that he could come back to life.

Ryou strolled along the street in the rain, feeling content despite of the weather. It's been five years since he sealed his Yami into the Puzzle, a lot has changed since then.

Sometimes he still can't believe he got rid of his Yami. He had taken the abuse for years, but when Yami Bakura started threatening him with his father's life, the light turned dark.

It was his body after all, and getting rid of Yami Bakura was not nearly as hard as he had imagined. Now his former Yami is sealed away in a card, his soul trapped in the Shadow Realm. Ryou's been there, it's not all that unpleasant.

Yugi Moto's still the King of Games, Ryou allowed himself a smirk. _King of Games, as if_. He felt justified in the comment. Yugi still has only one Millennium Item, while Ryou had come into possession of the Ring, the Rod and the Scale over the past five years. He didn't need a duel to defeat Yami anymore, he had enough power to destroy Yami without having to defeat him first.

He treaded the paths he had followed so many times during high school, when he dreaded the terror that awaited him at his old house. Now that terror is sitting in his pocket, and his house is in the process of being demolished.

That's why he flew back today, to try and catch the old times, before they're all gone.

He squeezed himself between a crack, noting the places where he had been robbed, beaten up, and once raped. These people, of course, are no more, and it's with a sense of nostalgia that he now recalls these past miseries.

Suddenly, he tensed up, sniffing the air. He smelt blood, and the approach of Anubis (the Egyptian god of death), the latter of which he is quite familiar with.

Ryou now works as a free-lance mercenary, a hunter of the supernatural, putting creatures back into the worlds they belong. He had seen death numerous times, faced it a couple himself, but he can't just let a life waste a way into thin air. He quickened his pace.

He saw a blotch of white on the dirt road, now muddy with the rain. He approached it warily, flipping the figure over to check for heartbeat and pulse. The body suddenly opened its eyes, and with an effort, grabbed his arm. "I want to live, whatever you want," it croaked.

Ryou smiled again, it was a habit from childhood he couldn't get rid of. It's so hard to find anybody with a will nowadays, this body is definitely worth saving.

"Sorry Anubis, but you'll have to find yourself another soul to devour," he said to what seemed to be thin air. The air bent slightly, signaling the departure of the god of death.

Ryou stood up, snapping his fingers. Two Vorse Raiders jumped out of his deck, picking up the body. This is another perk of magic, he can now summon monsters into the real world.

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Next update... I dunno """ Whenever I can get it done...hopefully tomorrow at 8?


	2. Touched by an Angel

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh

Author's Note: I don't know why this chapter is still rated PG, but it is. I can't understand where all this innocent thought in my head is coming from... Must be because I'm sick.

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Seto shook his head lightly to clear away the dizziness. The last thing he remembered was seeing someone dressed in white walking towards him. He tried to struggle, tried to tell them he wanted to go to hell instead, but he was too weak. He felt himself floating, then all was dark.

He looked around the best he could without being able to move his neck, it's was a big enough room, though simply furnished. Not a hospital like he expected, and if this is heaven, then he could probably donate some money to get back down if earth.

"You're awake," a voice sounded beside his bed. "Here, have some water." A warm pair of hands lifted him up from the bed and fed him a cup of water, water had never tasted so good.

Hearing the voice he had dreamed about so many times before, Seto turned his head around, "Ryou? Is that you? I always knew you were an angel." The warm pair of hands spilt all the water left in the cup on his sheet.

Ryou got choked by his own breaths, and coughed violently. _Him, an angel, it's been a while since he heard that._ Examining the man he brought home, Ryou hesitated, he hadn't been in this world for a while. "Seto Kaiba, right?'

Kaiba nodded enthusiastically. Ryou probably didn't remember, but this is the second time he saved him. The first time was in high school, he hadn't taken over Kaiba Corp yet: he had been a nobody… just like Ryou. A bunch of thugs cornered him, asking the 'rich kid' for lunch money, they had no way of knowing that his 'father' had given him none, not even a lunch.

Ryou dragged him away, telling him to run. He did. The next time he saw Ryou was three days later, the school forbade anyone to talk about what happened. He went to Ryou, not sure what he had wanted to do, only to have Ryou offer him lunch.

This lasted for about three month, until his hostile takeover of Kaiba Corp. At first he didn't dare to talk to Ryou anymore, scared that his enemies would redirect the targets. After a while, he just didn't dare to talk to Ryou, period.

They grew apart, but he never forgot that kid who gave him a push when nobody else gave him a second look.

"Ryou," he muttered, receiving a weird look in return. _I let you go the first time, because I had no choice, now I… _Kaiba stopped in mid thought. _I what? I can provide you with whatever you want even though we'll never have time to meet up? I can love you forever and marry you even if you'll probably never love me back? I can lock you up, hurt us both and live to regret it? What can you do Kaiba, that Ryou actually needs?_

'If you love somebody,' he remembered Ryou saying, 'let them go. If they love you, they'll have back.' He was eavesdropping on their conversation of course, as he did with every one of Ryou's conversations as often as he could, and he dimly recalled it had been to help some guy get over the loss of his best friend's sister, but every word seemed to have been forged for him.

"Kaiba," Ryou tapped him on the forehead, annoyed.

Kaiba looked up with a smile, which obviously took Ryou aback, "Yes Ryou?" _my love? I'll do whatever you ask._

"First of all," Ryou looked exasperated, "I'm not an angel and this isn't heaven, nor are you dead." Kaiba nodded absentmindedly, for the moment being, he didn't care where he was, as long as he was here. He got a hit on the forehead again.

"Secondly, I called your company so that they could arrange for people to pick you up as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you can stay here, not that you can go anywhere in this state."

Kaiba nodded again, disappointed that he would be leaving so soon. "Thank," he said genuinely, _for everything, everything you don't even know you did for me._

Ryou was startled by the gratitude of the CEO, he had seen Yugi save Kaiba a few times before, but never did Yugi receive more than a grunt. _We all grew up and people change_, he mused.

"Wait," Kaiba called out as Ryou got up, "can I have your phone number." He wanted to slap himself, probably would if he could have. Great pick-up line on another guy, 'can I have your number?'. "I mean," he quickly corrected himself, "I want to thank you properly, for saving my life and everything."

Ryou was confused. He did save Kaiba's life, but what's with the 'everything'. But he still conceded, "sure, I'll give it to your chauffer when you leave."

Kaiba hesitated, he had Ryou's number; he had the address of every hotel, hostel, inn, house Ryou had ever lived in across the globe, but he never managed to find Ryou. The albino seem to disappear for months on end, and then reappear again like nothing happened. "Will I ever see you again," he couldn't help but ask, his eyes hopeful for the first time in years.

It seemed too cruel to disappoint Kaiba somehow, and Ryou slowly nodded. "Yes we will, I promise."

Content with the promise, Kaiba snuggled deeper into the sheets, satisfied in thinking that Ryou had probably used these same sheets. He soon fell into a deep slumber.

"Big brother!" Mokuba hugged and glared at him at the same time, Kaiba felt himself smiling. "I told you that you should have went on vacation."

"It's okay Mokey, I'm fine." In fact, he was better than fine. He would gladly get hunted down again if it meant his angel would come. Kaiba wondered how long he could wait before he would go looking for a chance to be chased so that Ryou would save him again. He gave himself three weeks.

"Mokey?" Mokuba stared, "Mokey?! Seto, you're definitely not fine. Was it something you ate, drank?"

Kaiba shook his head slightly, feeling light as a bird while Mokuba patted him down, checking for injuries.

"You're not hurt at all," Mokuba commented, Kaiba blinked. He couldn't be 'not hurt', it's a miracle that he's not dead. He checked all the spots he remembered being hit at, nothing. All his wounds were healed.

"Seto, you okay?" Mokuba shook him out of his trance.

"Yeah, Mokey, I'm fine." Seto smiled again, "I've just been touched by an angel." He left the room, leaving Mokuba wide-eyed behind him.

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Next update will be sometime in December, that's all I can promise. """ Too busy so far. Besides, I have another story which is my main priority.


	3. Vault 5026

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Yugioh, I don't even have cards anymore.

Author's Note: Thanks to Necropolis Demon, my first reviewer. .

I'm sorry this took so long, but like I said, II'm still focusing on my other fic (which I actually have a plot for) sigh And I really don't know what to write for this.

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Seto snuck into his underground laboratory and sat down in front of the computer, deciding that he deserved a reward after the day's events.

"Open vault 5062." He commanded, closing his eyes to ease the pain building around his temples. He stood up shakily, steadying himself by holding onto the table. Despite of his age and physique, numerous sleepless, sleep-deprived nights had taken their toll on this youthful body.

If Mokuba had seen his big brother at this minute, he would have been scared half to death. Not only had the scowl that constantly presided over Seto disappeared, the elder Kaiba was actually smiling to himself, humming a tune as he stepped into the room guarded by the latest technologies. After all, though Kaiba corp. mainly manufactures games now, the foundations of a weaponry company were still there.

Seto glanced around the room, making sure the door was shut before he casually threw himself onto a sofa. It's hard being a Kaiba, with half his rivals plotting his demise and the other half licking his boots. It's here that he could act like the twenty-year old that the world had forgotten him to be.

The room was no larger than a tennis court, small by Kaiba mansion standards, yet with a homely air quite unbecoming of the young CEO.

Seto took hold of a photo frame he hid under the cushion, a silver-blond and a brunet boy beamed at him. Seto breathed out deeply, enjoying the rare moment of peace he had granted himself.

This room holds a collection of his most treasured possession: from the only picture he had of his parents to gifts Ryou gave him as a child. A symbol of everyone he had loved in his life was here, sadly enough, there's preciously few.

Nobody, not even Mokuba knew of this place: it's more guarded than his research centers. He wouldn't dare let anybody in. If, by a slip of tongue, rival companies learn of his affections to Ryou, then it'll be Duelist Island all over again. It'll be better for both of them if Ryou forgets him, though he knew that the albino boy would always hold a place in his heart. He wouldn't put Ryou through was Mokuba had been forced to go through. He wanted Ryou safe, even if that safety doesn't include him.

Ryou had probably long forgotten the brunet he befriended in Domino High. If Ryou does remember, it'll be with contempt, thinking that Seto was the one who deserted him after becoming heir to the Kaiba Corporation. He probably never noticed a lone figure, following him home every Friday night: that was the only night when Seto could squeeze the time out. Ryou probably never knew that every youth with a criminal record had been 'convinced' out of Domino High, making their school the safest in all of Japan.

_He doesn't need to know that, _Seto told himself, trying to convince himself for the millionth time, _it'll be better, better. _

Seto slouched down on the sofa, allowing his mind and muscle to relax. In ten minutes, he would be off to another business meeting.

"Yes, I would like to speak to Pegasus please, tell him it's Bakura," Ryou instructed calmly, he soon got the older man on the phone.

"Bakura," Pegasus hissed, unable to restrain his anger at the thief who stole his Millennium Eye, "what do you want?" Ryou smiled, knowing the other albino had mixed him up with his Yami, it's not the first time this happened.

"Pegasus, it's Ryou Bakura, not the soul that resided the Millennium Ring."

"Oh," Pegasus was understandably surprised, he never envisioned hearing from Ryou after their meeting in Duelist Kingdom. "Yes, hi Ryou-boy, what would you like?"

Ryou rolled his eyes, yet he couldn't help but to wistfully reflect on his long lost past. "I think I have something of interest to you: I have Cecilia's soul."

He didn't need the Millennium Eye to know Pegasus' reaction now, he could almost see the other man gasping in surprise, looking for a place to sit to recompose himself.

Pegasus' reply came after a moment of silence. "You have Cecilia's soul? Look Tomb Robber, I happen to know for a fact that the Puzzle's still in Yugi's hands, and without sacrificing all seven Millennium Items, it's not possible to bring her back." Overwhelmed with emotion, he paused before continuing. "I don't know what you're trying to get from me, or if this is your idea of a joke, but don't do it again. I may not have the Millennium Eye anymore, but I can still hunt you down!"

Pegasus slammed the phone. Listening to the beeping of the phone, Ryou stared speechlessly at the ceiling. A mortal would need to melt all seven Millennium Items to bring a soul across the dimensional barriers, but who ever said he was still mortal? He had been sympathetic of the couple ever since Duelist Island, is it too much to want to help?

"Bakura-sama, what's wrong?" His Morphing Jar popped in. Ever since his duel monsters acquired human forms, they have been constantly coming into the human world, if only to annoy him.

"Do you still have the soul I found last month?" Ryou ignored his monster's question and posed one of his own. Morphing Jar, whose human form is a young boy no more than ten years old, nodded.

"You mean the soul you stumbled across in the Shadow Realm? Yep. She's doing much better now. I think she can survive in the virtual world, and after a few days, she'll be able to enter a human body."

Ryou sighed wearily. He had wanted to leave Pegasus to deal with Kaiba corp. and the finding of a body for Cecilia, but now he has to do all the work.

"Bakura-sama?" Morphing Jar poked him again, determined not to leave without a response to his previous inquiry.

"It's nothing, I just didn't get to do my one good deed of the day." Ryou joked, having gotten over being hanged up on. "Call Kaiba for me, I need a favor from him." Morphing Jar nodded, skipping off.

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I don't know when the next update will be, hopefully, it wouldn't take another week.


	4. Tie or No Tie, That is the Question

Disclaimer: Most likely, I'll never earn enough money to buy Yugioh "sniff, sniff", but I like my Setos _mine_.

Author's Note: Thanks to bubu chacha. Three reviews, YAY! Hugs bubu chacha.

Um... This is as long a chapter as I could make it... After everything's been said, what else can I write? I just couldn't think of anything else to type. But this_ is_ longer than my other chapters my about five hundred words... It's three pages on word, that's a lot for me. I've seen other stories with 8000 words chapters... that's not supposed to be a chapter, that's supposed to be five!

Anyways, hope you enjoy.

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Seto sat in his office, reviewing over the newest Kaiba corp. profit reports. Mokuba sprawled out on a chair beside him, playing solitaire and glaring threatening at his big brother every so often. Seto seems to ignore Mokuba's antics and continues typing away on his laptop.

Mokuba had constantly insisted on following Seto's footsteps in becoming the CEO of Kaiba Corp. The younger Kaiba had always looked up to his older brother and had hoped to one-day share Seto's workloads, if not to relieve Seto from his position completely. His older brother, on the other hand, wished anything but for Mokuba to suffer through his life. This is the only thing Seto denied Mokuba, despite Mokuba's numerous protests. This is why both brothers are trapped in this room on a beautiful afternoon. Not that Seto would go out anyways.

"Mr. Kaiba, sir," Seto's secretary entered, greeted by, and shrinking from the glares from both Kaibas, it took all his willpower not to back away. A nod from Seto acknowledging his existence forced him to continue. "There's someone on the phone for you, he said his name is Ryou Bakura."

"Oh?" Seto casually looked up from his laptop; this in itself was problematic in Mokuba's eyes. Seto never looked up from his laptop _casually_, he never looked up from his laptop, period, unless something important had gone wrong. And when he does look up from his laptop, it was either to scream at some unfortunate employee, or running off and fixing whatever glitch that just came up.

"And did he say what he wanted?" Seto continued coolly, reaching for his coffee. The secretary was too scared to notice his boss' hands shaking as Seto reached for the cup, then gulping the coffee down as if he's been starved for three days straight. But this didn't escape Mokuba's eyes. Nor did the kid fail to notice that his big brother had been biting his lips, a habit Mokuba thought Seto had gotten rid of upon enter into Gozaburo's care. Besides, how many twenty-three year olds still bite their lips?

Seto doesn't usually look this troubled. Scratch that, Seto had never looked this troubled for as long as Mokuba could remember. Not when he lost in Battle City, not when he learned of his past, not even when Yugi beat him. Mokuba secretly wondered if Seto acted like this on Duelist Island, when he was rescuing his little brother. 'Probably not' was the conclusion Mokuba came to.

"Mr. Kaiba, sir. He said he had a favor to ask of you." The secretary hastily replied, wishing to leave his boss' presence as quickly as possible.

"Put him through," Seto commanded, leaning against his chair in fatigue and disappointment, taking another gulp of the coffee. So his Ryou has become just like the rest of them, calling him just for his money and position. No, his Ryou would never be like that. Ryou probably just thought him to be another stuck-up moneybags, why did Seto deserve to be treated any different by an angel?

Seto raised the coffee cup to his lips again, oblivious to the fact that the cup was already empty. He would give his Ryou whatever he asks for, because his Ryou deserves only the best.

"Ryou?" Learning that the call has already been transferred, Seto picked up the phone. "Wha-, I mean can I help you?" Seto was grateful for whatever deity that stopped him from gruffly asking 'what do you want'. That question would undoubtedly reduce his already pathetically low likability in Ryou's eyes.

"Kaiba?"

"Seto?"

Ryou and Mokuba called to him simultaneously, with the same question in mind, "are you okay?" Since when does _the_ Seto Kaiba attempt to be civil to somebody asking for his help?

Seto tried to silence Mokuba with a glare; his little brother grinned at him, apparently having caught onto what was happening. He had always thought that Seto needs a girlfriend, or boyfriend, now Seto had finally taken his advice. Good, now Mokuba wouldn't feel as guilty about bringing Malik to the Kaiba mansion.

"Mokuba, out!" Seto mouthed, not want Ryou to know what's happening. Giggling, Mokuba picked up another phone to eavesdrop on their conversation. It was really hard for Seto to hold back his exasperated sigh.

"Sorry, about that." Seeing that it was impossible to get Mokuba out of the room, Seto turned his attention back to Ryou. Staring at his big brother for so long was beginning to make Mokuba's eyes water.

"No problem. It's hard being a big brother, isn't it?" Ryou replied good-naturedly, chuckling on the other end of the phone.

"Wait, how did you-?" Seto stuttered, "Were you spying on me or something?" Despite of himself, Seto felt rather pleased. At least he wasn't just an onlooker in Ryou's life; at least he meant something for the little albino, even if all he meant is a source of extra cash.

"No, I wasn't Kaiba." Ryou's tone hinted at the unsaid response, 'don't flatter yourself.'

Seto, who usually would have been infuriated by this tone of voice, chose to leave the unsaid unheeded. "Oh yeah, I forgot, you're- not of this world. Right?"

"Not of this world?" Ryou chuckled, "Kaiba, you make it sound like I was dead." Mokuba never thought he'd live to see the day that his big brother would make somebody laugh.

"Th-that's not what I meant," Seto quickly apologized, "but you said you're not an angel, right? So I can't call you that now."

"…" Ryou held his hands over the mouthpiece over the phone so that Seto wouldn't hear him laughing. Him! An angel? Which world is Kaiba in?

The first murder he could justify, but he lost his right to heaven after he plucked the second guy's heart out. Ryou's eyes ran over his own ivory hands, sighing. It was a choice he made, it was a choice he would make again if he could start his life from scratch. Somebody's got to do the dirty jobs, so that the rest of society could live with a free conscience. He's just one of the less fortunate. "Kaiba," Ryou finally said, "I'm atheist."

"So am I. So, Ryou, what do you need?" The sheer pleasantness in his voice gave both Mokuba and Ryou goose bumps.

"Um…" Ryou felt himself reduced to the sixteen-year old who could only whimper under his yami, Seto had given him too many surprises for the day. "I want to borrow your virtual reality system, with two pods."

"Sure, no problem." Seto's eagerness would have betrayed him, if it weren't for that Ryou couldn't even begin to imagine Seto having any friendly emotions towards him. "I'll send it over tomorrow. Or do you need it tonight?"

"Tomorrow's fine…" Ryou blinked at the telephone, checking over the number he dialed. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn it was Yugi on the other end. "Thanks."

"Alright then." Sensing Ryou's inclination to end the call, Seto didn't want to keep him and leave a bad impression. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow?" Ryou repeated. Seto, taking that as Ryou's farewell, hang up, happy as a lark The albino was left staring at the phone book and calling his phone company to check if the call had gone to the right person.

Meanwhile, Mokuba was just as troubled by Seto's unusual display of enthusiasm. He had thought it to be a love interest in the beginning, but Seto never even acted that happy towards _him_.

"Seto…" Mokuba approached his big brother cautiously, "is Kaiba Corp. in some debt that I don't know about?"

"No, of course not." The said brunette was happily occupying himself in wondering whether he should wear a tie to see Ryou tomorrow.

"So we're not in a financial crisis?" Mokuba persisted, more worried than ever.

"No," Seto humored his little brother, "should we be?"

"So we don't owe that guy on the phone a lot of money?" Mokuba continued questioning, feeling more confused than ever.

"No," Seto finally got his thoughts away from Ryou long enough to wonder about Mokuba's series of question. "Why?"

"Why else would you be that helpful to him?" Mokuba replied, genuinely concerned, "and you were being so friendly!" Seeing his big brother glower, Mokuba quickly corrected himself. "I don't mean to say that you're not usually friendly…" That's exactly what he meant, but he can't let Seto know that if he ever wants to elicit a response from Seto. "You were just acting much more friendly than usual."

"I was, was I?" Seto mused. "How can I not, when it's an angel I was talking to?"

"Angel? But I thought you were atheist, and so is he." Mokuba pointed out. "Are you sure we aren't in debt? You know that I can find out about it on my own anyways, right?"

"No, we're not, and yes, I am sure." Seto began collecting his stuff, having decided to go home early this afternoon so that he could be fully rested for tomorrow. "Oh yeah, Mokey?" Mokuba looked at him, having gotten used to the childhood nickname during the past few days. "Do you think I look better with or without a tie?"

Seeing that Seto wouldn't leave without an answer, Mokuba finally acceded, "without."

Seto left, softly humming to himself.

As soon as he left, Mokuba called Seto's secretary in, demanding to see all the transactions in the past year. It took Mokuba three hours to sort out all the accounts, all of which were flawless.

Feeling more worried than ever, Mokuba picked up the phone. "Hi, Dr. Simmons, it's Mokuba Kaiba. Do you remember that appointment my brother cancelled a while ago?" "I'd like to rebook that if you please." "Yes, I promise he'll show up this time." "Thank you so much for your time, you have a nice day too."

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Like I said, I have no plot for this story, so I don't know when the next update will be. But I'm losing interest in the other one, so the next update shouldn't take that long.


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